Beef Rendang

Beef Rendang is a popular dish found in both Indonesian and
Malaysian, hence you will find many variations to the recipe. It has
a wonderful spicy flavour, and like a lot of curries, develops its
taste of left for a day or two after preparation.

The curry is cooked slowly until all the liquid is absorbed and
you have a dry curry with melt in the mouth meat. Be warned it also
very spicy so if you like it milder simply remove the seeds from the
chillies and use less chillies in the paste.

Portions: 4 to 6 Portions

Preparation: 30 minutes

Cooking: 2 hours

Ingredients

ingredients

1kg brisket or stewing beef, cut into 3-4cm cubes

Paste

8 shallots, roughly chopped

5 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

2 lemongrass stalks (white part only), roughly chopped

30g ginger, peeled and roughly copped

8 large red chillies, roughly chopped

1 tsp ground turmeric

1-3 tbsp water (to help puree)

To Cook

3 tbsp vegetable oil

2 cans of coconut milk (800ml)

2 tsp tamarind paste soaked in 100ml boiling water (seeds discarded)

1 tbsp palm sugar or soft brown sugar

100g desiccated coconut, toasted in a dry wok or frying pan

1 lemongrass stalks, bruised with the side of a knife

5 lime leaves

1 cinnamon stick

generous pinch salt

To Serve

3 lime leaves, very finely shredded

1 large red, deseeded and finely chopped

steamed rice

Method

Paste: Place all the paste ingredients in
a food processor and blend adding 1-3 tbsp of water just enough
to help puree fine paste. Set aside.

To Cook: Heat the oil in a wok or a heavy
based casserole or saucepan over a moderate high heat. Add the
spice paste and fry for a couple of minutes stirring until
aromatic.

Add the meat and brown on all sides. Stir in the coconut
milk, tamarind water and all the remaining cooking ingredients.
Stir until all the ingredients are well distributed (the beef
should be covered in coconut milk if not add a little water).
Reduce the heat to moderate and bring to a strong simmer. Reduce
to a low heat and leave to gently simmer for 1 1/2 hours,
stirring occasionally for even cooking.

After 1 1/2 hours the sauce should have become fairly
thick, for the final 30 minutes of cooking you will need to stir
regularly so that the meat and sauce don’t burn.

At the end of 2 hours cooking the sauce should be very
thick and the beef tender. Remove the lemongrass, cinnamon and
lime leaves. Serve.